Woman poses with machinegun on bridge of another Costa liner

Nick Squires

Rome: Almost two years to the day since Captain Francesco Schettino invited a Moldovan dancer on to the bridge of the Costa Concordia moments before it hit the rocks, a captain from the same cruise line has been reprimanded for allowing a Romanian woman to pose with a machinegun on the bridge of his ship.

The Costa Atlantica was sailing through the Gulf of Aden with an armed escort to ward off potential attack by Somali pirates when the skipper invited Sasha Alexandra on to the bridge.

An article in Italian magazine OGGI shows a woman holding a machinegun on the bridge of a Costa liner. Photo: OGGI Magazine

Smiling and wearing a tight cocktail dress, she posed for photographs while holding a machinegun that apparently had been handed to her by one of two Italian marines who accompanied the cruise ship as it sailed through pirate-infested waters.

She was flanked on one side by the marine and on the other by the captain in his white uniform.

The marine, who joined the ship as it sailed past the Horn of Africa, is also likely to be punished.

Inviting the woman on to the bridge was in direct contravention of rules established by the company just a few months before, in October 2012, which were meant to prevent "disruptions and distractions to the bridge team members while monitoring the navigation of the ship".

The regulations were introduced 10 months after Capt Schettino invited Domnica Cemortan, a Moldovan dancer, on to the bridge of the Concordia, on the night of January 13, 2012.